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History

Helm became King at the death of his father Gram, during a time of crisis. His father had already fought open warfare with the Dunlendings, who operated from the captured fortress of Isengard.

In T.A.2754 a man named Freca appeared, a Dunlending with Rohirric blood. Freca held lands at either side of the river Adorn, the border of Rohan, and claimed to be a descendant of King Fréawine of Rohan. He planned to have his son, Wulf, marry the daughter of Helm. Freca rode to Edoras with a great force of men, planning to threaten the King to comply with his demands, but Helm Hammerhand smote him with his fist and Frecca died soon thereafter.

The men of Freca left Edoras, but in 2758 they returned with a great force of Dunlendings, reinforced by enemies of Gondor who had landed in the south. Under the leadership of Wulf they overran Rohan, but Helm withdrew into the Suthburg and there endured a long siege.

Helm owned a great war-horn, and whenever it was blown Helm would break through the Dunlending ranks, slaying many of their men. It was believed that many of the men he killed with his bare hands. This led to a belief under the Dunlendings that the wraith of Helm Hammerhand still wandered through Rohan, and defended the keep that would be renamed the Hornburg. However, at the end of the war Helm Hammerhand and his sons Haleth and Háma were slain. Once Helm died, his body was discovered frozen in the snow still standing and ready to fight.